


An Exercise in Trust

by coffeerepublic



Series: thick skin and an elastic heart. [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Haircuts, Pre-Relationship, Romantic Friendship, Trust Issues, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5833921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeerepublic/pseuds/coffeerepublic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Butch offers to cut her hair. Evie is unsure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Exercise in Trust

**Author's Note:**

> Just look at me, still yelling into the void about a seemingly dead pairing.
> 
> Oh well! Enjoy the read.

“Urgh.“

This was simply disgusting. Evie had been trying to get the disgusting dried fluid out of her hair for what felt like hours now. The success of her quest was, among other things, impeded by the fact that all the supplies available to her were the dirty water from an ancient bathroom sink and a bar of soap. Apparently those things were not enough to combat the bloatfly goo stuck in her ponytail from an earlier fight.

She heard steps growing closer. There were not many possibilities as to who it might be, so she was not at all surprised to see Butch entering the bathroom behind her through the broken mirror. She did not turn around, opting instead for continuing to rub soap into her sticky hair.

“That’s super disgusting,” Butch commented, leaning against the tile wall and crossing his arms. His smirk was audible in the way he said it. 

“Thanks, you’re a real charmer,” Evie replied sarcastically.

“For you, I try my best.”

“You just got lucky that none of the stuff got on you, Butch.” She sighed as she tried to pry the strands apart by running her fingers through them. It did not work.

“Yeah, and I’m real grateful. Or, you know, maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe I just managed to keep my distance the way you’re supposed to?” He sounded a bit too smug for Evie’s taste.

“And maybe you only managed to pull that off because they decided to collectively have a go at me instead of you.”

“Or maybe –“ Butch stopped mid-sentence when he noticed her wincing in pain while trying to brush her hair with her fingers. He crossed the distance between them and took her long ponytail in hand as she let her own hand drop in frustration.

Evie tried her best not to watch the reflection of his face while he inspected her hair.

“I don’t think that’s coming out anytime soon, nosebleed,” he eventually declared. “You’re gonna have to cut it off if you want it out.”

She did not say anything in reply. Instead, she just let out an exasperated noise. Evie was not overly attached to her hair, at least not nearly as much as she had been when she had been younger. It annoyed her nonetheless.

A few moments later, Butch still had not let go of her ponytail. He was not pulling it, but merely holding onto it, apparently thinking about something.

“You can let go now, Butch,” she said, her voice neutral. She wondered what it was that he was considering. He responded by unhanding it.

“Your hair’s way too long to be practical out here anyways. I’m gonna get my stuff ready.” And already he had turned to leave the room.

“Ready for what?” Evie asked.

Butch turned back to look at her, one eyebrow raised. “To cut your hair? Obviously?” He made it sound like it was the most natural thing in the world – as if she should have been able to guess it.

It did not seem natural to Evie at all. When she did not say anything more, he kept speaking.

“And while we’re at it, you can have some of my shampoo. Because seriously, that soap is not doing you any favors.”

If anyone could combine a reasonably kind offer with a direct insult and make it seem normal, it was Butch DeLoria.

“You’ve never cut my hair,” Evie eventually stated. While true, it was not what she had actually meant to say. _I’ve never wanted you to or let you cut my hair._ “Why now?”

“Listen to yourself.” Butch seemed caught off guard by her unwillingness. “You do realize I’m a professional? Like, I’m actually good at it?”

She brushed past him on her way to the old shack’s main room. Evie did not feel like explaining her internal workings and thought processes to him of all people, but she knew for a fact that he was not going to let this go until he got a satisfactory answer. 

“Are you gonna say anything else, nerd? Or are you just gonna keep looking at me with those big eyes of yours? You know, you can walk around the wasteland with bloatfly innards in your hair if you really wanna. Or –“ and he stretched the word out as long as he could, “– you could just let me cut it. What’s your deal?”

It took only a few more moments before Evie caved.

“You know how when I was a kid I used to always wear my hair in a braid?” she asked in a quiet voice, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“…not really? Where’re you going with this?” He was not lying. His tone of voice told her he really did not remember. Just as she had suspected.

“Well, I really liked my long hair, you know. My dad had told me it reminded him of my mother.” Evie bit her tongue for oversharing and paused before continuing. “And I remember how little twelve-year-old you had just found a switchblade of all things somewhere. And how you decided that the perfect way to show it off was to cut off my braid during class.”

“Hey, you know I still have that knife? It’s called Toothpick.” He grinned at the apparently fond memory she had called to his mind.

Evie shook her head, unsure whether to groan or smile at his obliviousness. He had been causing so many conflicting feelings inside her recently.

“What I’m saying,” she emphasized, “is that you don’t have the best record when it comes to handling my hair.”

“Evie,” he deadpanned, finally seeming to realize what she meant. “That was like forever ago. We were kids then.”

She had expected him to at least apologize. But it became apparent that she considered that uncomfortable memory a much bigger deal than he did. All of a sudden, she felt uncomfortable looking him in the eye. Evie did not appreciate the way he was making her feel like she was exaggerating.

“It’s just…” she said to the floor. “I don’t know. It’s weird.” A for eloquence, she thought to herself.

“So you’re not gonna let me cut your hair, ever, because of some stupid stunt I pulled as a kid? That’s harsh.”

“I didn’t say that, Butch. I’m just telling you it’d be quite the exercise in trust for me.”

Evie knew perfectly well that this was just one simple thing that stood in for her general trust issues regarding him. Yes, they were companions. Yes, they had each other’s backs in firefights. No, that did not let her forget that he had bullied her for a large share of her life.

“So if you did let me, and I did a good job, that’d help, right?” he offered eventually.

“Why are you so insistent about it anyways?” Evie wondered out loud, finally looking back up at him. His frustrated expression caused her to laugh the slightest bit.

“Fuck if I know,” he sighed before grinning back at her. “Let’s just say I wanna show off my skills, alright?”

Maybe he deserved a chance to show her he had at least changed a bit.

“Alright,” she answered, simultaneously agreeing to letting him have an attempt at her hair. “So you probably need me to sit down, right?”

Butch nodded.

While she sat down in the only available chair in the room – in front of an old, dust-covered desk – he went to get his barber equipment from his bag. Evie heard him step closer and decided not to turn around. Instead she opted for looking down at her hands in her lap. Her heart did beat faster at the notion of having him cut her hair. Whether it was anxiety or excitement, she was not sure.

“Take off the jacket, will you? It’s only gonna get in the way.”

Evie obliged, not saying anything. She laid the leather piece of clothing down on the desk in front of her.

And so he started doing what he was good at. At first, he pulled the tie she used to keep her hair up downwards until he reached the point where the strands were clotted. Then he raised his scissors and cut it off right above that point. Evie felt the difference in weight right away. It must have been several inches that were now gone. Butch continued his task, taking only small amounts of hair between his fingers at once, cutting them to the same length and straightening out the bottom. He really did seem to know what he was doing. Evie felt herself relaxing.

“You know,” she said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the both of them. “If you do a good job, I might consider the shampoo thing you suggested before.”

“I don’t get why you use soap anyways. You know I carry around tons of hair product. You could’ve just asked.”

_I never ask you for anything._ “You could’ve just offered.”

He did not say anything in reply, instead only giving her a grumble that clearly meant he still thought he was in the right.

While he kept working away at her hair, Evie’s thoughts trailed off. The way his fingers brushed her scalp each time he went for a new strand of hair, the way he unintentionally touched the back of her neck and shoulders every now and then felt lovely. She was almost embarrassed at how the little amount of physical contact affected her, but she would not show it. With having travelled alone for so long, being touched by someone – even in the most innocent ways – had become a distant memory.

“And done.” Butch reached out with his left hand, brushing tiny bits of hair off of both of her shoulders. Evie could only barely keep herself from shivering. She tried her best to call herself to order.

Getting up quickly, she rushed back inside the bathroom to look at herself in the remainders of the mirror there. She regarded her splintered reflection, slowly turning her head to both sides to see herself from different angles. Her hair was much shorter now, almost exactly meeting her shoulders. He had cut it off in an almost harshly straight line, leaving it a little longer in the front than in the back. It looked a bit extreme – at least extremely different in comparison to before. She reached up and pulled at the strands that went past both sides of her chin. 

“What do you think?” Butch’s voice sounded from the doorway.

She turned towards him to find him looking at her expectantly, one of his typical Butch smirks adorning his face. Evie could not stop herself from grinning back at him.

“I love it!” She would not have been able to keep her excitement hidden if she had tried.

“Told you I know what I’m doing.” He stood closer to her, holding out her Tunnel Snakes jacket with one hand. “Put it back on.”

When Evie reached out to take it, he instead re-arranged it so she could slip her arm right into one sleeve. She did and he helped her finish putting it on. Instead of letting go of her, he stood behind her as his hands found her hips.

When Evie looked up, she could see he was looking at her in the mirror. She did the same, watching him regard their reflection in the looking glass. He was almost a head taller than her and it had seldom been as apparent as it was in this position. With their similar outfits it looked almost as if they belonged together. What a weird thought, Evie mused.

“You look so cool, nosebleed,” Butch eventually said, smirking at their reflection.

Evie decided not to let what she had just been thinking show. It was difficult with the way he was still holding onto her hips.

“I’m not entirely sure whether you’re complimenting me or just your own work, Butch.”

She had succeeded in making him laugh, at least. He caught her by surprise when he rested his chin on top of her head, if only for a short moment.

“Definitely both,” he replied with all the confidence in world before letting go of her and strutting out of the room.

It took a few moments before Evie was able to suppress her blush and follow after him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, or if you would simply like to inform me that I am not entirely yelling into the void, please drop me a line. :)


End file.
